Locomotive fire box



J. T. ANTHONY.

LOCOMOTIVE FIRE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED N0v;12, 1917.

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Application filed November 12, 1921?.

To all whom at my concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES T. AN'rHoNx, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Locomotive F ire Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to locomotive fire boxes, and the nature o1 the improvement and the objects and advantages of the invention will be best understood by a brief statement or" certain of the difiiculties encountered in connection with standard types of fire boxes at present in use.

Such fire boxes are of the square corner design, i. e., rectangular in shape, and the rear corners are extremely difiicult to fire into, particularly in a wide type of fire box; and as a rule such corners either become filled with dead clinker andash or are left vacant for the inrush of a blast of cold air, in either event the general efficiency of the fire box being lowered,

The large size of modern locomotives necessitates a corresponding increase in the fire boxes to secure sufiicient grate area, as a result of which the cab space has been reduced tosuch an extent that most of the cabs are very crowded and cramped and hamper the engine crews.

In general, by my invention, I propose to provide a fire box having rounded corners for the purpose of preventingthe formation of dead ash pockets and making it much more simple to keep the fire in the rear portion of the fire box. At the same time such a construction will provide the maximum effective grate area necessaryto the large size locomotives, without cutting down the cabspace, for the provision of the round cornered mud ring and fire box will eliminate the projecting corners and rovide considerably greater space on the 001' and deck of l the cab.

In addition in the modern types of fire boxes, the rectangular or square cornered type of mud ring is stifi and inflexible and causes buckling and cracking ofthe side sheets and broken staybolts. The rovision of a rounded corner mud rin wil tend to eliminate much of such sti ness and inflexibility, and the rounding of the corners of the fire box walls will still further in- Specification of Letters Eatent.

, Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Serial It'o. totem.

does not cut down the efiective space in which the gases are mixed and consumed nor reduce the area of the crown sheet; and finally, the invention resides in the provision of a fire box having all of the advanta es pointed out. but which offers no ditficu ties in the method of construction and in maintenance and cleaning.

1 accomplish the foregoing by means of a construction which I have illustrated in referred form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a fire box embodying my improvements; Figure 2 is a transverse section of half the fire box taken on the line IIH 01" Figure 1; Figure 3 is a similar section taken on the line IHIII of Figure l; and Figure 4: isa section taken on the line lV-IV of Figure 1.

In carrying out my invention Iprovide the usual form of outside fire box comprising the throat sheet 7, back head 8 and outside fire sheet or wrapper 9; and an inside fire box comprising the inside throat sheet 10, fiue sheet 11, crown sheet 12 and side sheets 13, and back sheet 14. The circulation tubes 15 connect the front and rear water legs and carry any preferred form of brick arch or baffle 16. The water legs are closed by the mud ring 17.

It will be noted that the corners of the mud ring 17 are rounded and also that the corners of the inside and outsidefire boxes are likewise rounded. The-rounded corner effect of the fire boxes, however, is stopped short of both the crown-sheet and of the top of the outer or wrapper sheet. Thus the rounded corners of the inside throat sheet are carried slightly above the throat sheet proper and merge into the lower portion of the flue sheet proper; and the rounded corners of the back sheet and the back I ing.

reduced. It will also be observed that the full area of the crown sheet is maintained and that the effective space for the mixture and combustion of the gases is not cut down. In addition the whole structure has greater flexibility than the standard types, because of the round-cornered mud ring and the round corners of the fire box walls. If a larger radius is desired 'for' the rear corners of the box, complicated flanges can be avoided by increasing the pitch of the slope on the back head. No difficulties therefore are encountered in connection with the method of construction and with maintenance and clean- It will be seen that the arrangement forms at the corners a structure which constitutes substantially a frustum of a cone, the trustum terminating short of the crown sheet so as not to encroach on its evaporating surface.

- I claim:

1. In a locomotive fire box structure having a mud ring and evaporating surfaces comprising a crown sheet and front, rearand side sheets the combination of materially rounded corners, the radii of the lower portions of which are of substantial dimensions whereby to eliminate dead small dimensions whereby to retain 2. A locomotive fire box structure having a crown sheet, and throat, rear and side sheets, said throat, rear and side sheets meeting and merging at the corners in curved or rounded planes, the radii of the lower portions of which are of substantial dimensions whereby. to eliminate dead spaces in the fi're bed andthe radii of the upper portions of which are of comparatively small dimensions whereby to retain substantiallyv the full effective evaporating surface of the crown sheet.

3. A locomotive fire box structure having .a crown sheet and rear and side sheets, said rear and side sheets meeting and merging in curved or rounded planes constituting rounded corners, the radii of the lower portions of. which are of substantial dimensions whereby to eliminate dead spaces in the fire bed and the radii of the upper portions of which are of comparatively small dimensions whereby to retain substantially the full effective evaporating surface of the crown sheet.

4:. A locomotive fire box structure having materially round-ed corners, the radii of the lower portions of which are of substantial dimensions whereby to eliminate. dead spaces in the fire bed and the radii of the upper portions of which are of compara tiveiy small dimensions whereby to retain substantially the full effective evaporating surface of the crown sheet of the box;

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

JAMES T. ANTHONY. 

